March 30, 2017 is a day many who belong to Ghana’s third arm of government, the legislature, will want to quickly forget. It was the day an otherwise regular presentation of a fact finding committee set up by the Speaker of the House turned heads and pitched ‘the three musketeers’ against members of both the Majority and Minority sides of the house.
Speaker of Parliament, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye, upon a petition for a probe into allegations of corruption against members of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, set up a five-member committee chaired by Member of Parliament for Essikadu-Ketan, Joe Ghartey on January 31.
Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko had been accused of attempting to bribe 10 Minority members on Parliament’s Appointments Committee, with GHc 3,000 each, prior to his approval. The allegation was made by Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga and backed by two others, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Alhassan Suhuyini.
After weeks of denials and counter accusations over the said amount of money, the Ghartey Committee had finally put together a report that was to put to bed an issue that had divided the front of the minority in parliament, caused ‘sleepless nights’ for the chairman of the Appointments Committee and got many questioning the integrity of a house expected to keep government in check.
However, in a rather bizarre turn of events, the content of the Ghartey Committee report sparked more controversy and led to some members displaying acts which can only be described as savage given the high standards Members of the House are expected to abide by. It was after Mahama Ayariga reluctantly rendered an apology for the claims he had earlier made against Boakye Agyarko, Joe Osei Owusu and Muntaka Mubarak.
On live television, Education Minister and Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Matthew Opoku Prempeh was seen making ‘insulting gestures’ and describing a member on the minority side of parliament as mad. Communications minister and MP for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful was also seen in a similar act as she described a colleague MP as a ‘slave’. Both MPs had been agitated by the posturing of Mahama Ayariga and more importantly, Tamale North MP, Alhassan Suhuyini who they allegedly described as a ‘small boy’.
Alhassan Suhuyini who appeared enraged by the comments responded in like manner and had to be charged by his senior colleagues in Parliament to keep calm while the Speaker of the House gave a ruling on the matter. The Speaker’s decision to adjourn ruling to Monday April 3, and his subsequent exit from the floor of parliament open the floodgate to more pandemonium and chaos in a house reserved for the ‘honorables’ of the Ghanaian society.
Ghartey Committee rubbishes Mahama Ayariga’s bribery claims
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